So far the lessons have explored some of the types of life and behavior God requires of his people to show faith. While for unbelievers, doing those things is noble, they won’t save the unsaved. As was pointed out in a previous lesson, without faith in Christ, doing and being what God requires is nothing but self-righteousness. Neither will “going to church” save anyone nor will membership in some group called a church effect salvation. The name over the door or on a marquee is so much chaff, just as are the fancy buildings of which the members are so proud. A search of the scriptures reveals that the group of people known as the church has no formal or official name. In addition, the identity, purpose and work of the church will be studied. The foregoing is a glimpse of what will be covered in the next few lessons.

Jesus came into the world to save the world since it again was condemned to sin following the flood. John was in Bethabara baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)  That was the mission of Jesus and the purpose for which he was born of Mary, a human being. With that birth, the world would never be the same. He set about creating a distinctive people who would follow him to the exclusion of all others. That distinctive people would believe that he was and is the way for eternal life when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 6:14) The distinctive people he would bring into being through obedience to the gospel as a group is known as the church. That is one of the identities found in the Bible. Another is the term a peculiar people which will be explained later.

At this point in the lessons it is necessary to study the word church and its origin. Church is the translation of the Greek word ekkleesia (pronounced: ek-klay-see'-ah); a generic Greek word that means an assembly of citizens gathered for any purpose with the group taking an identity which corresponds to the purpose or nature of the group. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Actually, Jesus didn’t say any word that could be translated church. He said the Greek word ekkleesia or its equivalent in Aramaic.

But the truth is that Matthew used the word ekkleesia for what he heard. And he most certainly didn’t hear the word kuriokon because there isn’t any such word in the Koine Greek or in the Aramaic or Hebrew languages. If not for the word church, which means a building or an ecclesiastical hierarchy, the Catholic Church with its pope, cardinals and prelates and all the many denominations could not exist. The use of the word church is a perversion of the meaning of ekkleesia and has given rise to all manner of false doctrines. In addition, all of the denominations are an outgrowth of the Catholic dogma originating from the word church, and their doctrines are no more true to the Word of God than the Catholic doctrines.

To take the word church one step further, without it the Catholic dogma could not claim Peter was the first Pope since the word as stated above means an ecclesiastical organization and is a religious word, whereas the word assembly (ekkleesia) isn’t religious and means an assemblage of people. In addition, when Jesus said upon this rock, he used the word petra, which means rock mass or bedrock, not Petros which is Peter’s name and means a stone or pebble. Jesus is the foundation and Peter and the apostles are the stones which built upon it through the preaching of the gospel.

In Ephesians 2:19, Paul wrote of the fellow citizens (Gentiles) of household of God and then in verse 20 we find: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; The proposition upon in the sentence indicates that the household of God was formed by the foundation (Jesus) and rests upon it. The words “of the apostles and the prophets” refers to the foundation proclaimed in the gospel message. The words chief corner has to refer to Jesus, the rock, the Son of God. As Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8, But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Except for the deliberate twisting of the words and meaning of the word rock in Matthew 16:18, the Catholic Church could not claim Peter was the first Pope. It is patently absurd that Paul and Peter would preach Jesus to the lost and at the same time claim Peter be the head of the assembly created by Jesus when all scripture is contrary to that false doctrine.

An old saying says Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! It is glaringly apparent to those who want to find the truth that the Catholic Church has propagated one of the greatest deceptions of all time to the peril of people looking for salvation.

© 07-11-2009 DEC

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